Top 13 GoodNotes Note Templates for Class, From Cornell to Dot Grid

Lecture notes have one job: to make sense three weeks later, the night before the exam. A blank page rarely manages that. Things get written wherever there’s space, the main ideas hide in the middle of a paragraph, and there’s nothing to quiz yourself with. A good notes template in GoodNotes fixes most of that before you write a word, and a Cornell notes template goes one step further: it builds the review into the page.

When those lecture notes need to become a revision sheet, compare these study guide layout ideas. The examples help you rearrange concepts and recall questions instead of simply copying the original notes onto another blank page.

Below are the 13 GoodNotes note templates from Creative Fabrica I’d use for class, from notebooks with Cornell, dot grid and graph pages to paper packs you can mix into any notebook. After the list: what a Cornell notes template is, how to take Cornell notes on the iPad, which paper suits which subject, and a simple review routine for exam time.

The same dot-grid or graph notebook does not have to stay a lecture notebook. These empty notebook ideas help you choose another purpose and a starting structure before filling an unused section with unrelated notes.

The 13 Best GoodNotes Notes Templates I Found

Search “Cornell notes” on a template marketplace and most results are KDP book interiors, Canva files or printables. I skipped all of those and kept only digital notebooks and paper packs made for GoodNotes on the iPad. Cornell-ready notebooks come first, then subject notebooks and paper packs, and last a semester planner with lecture-note pages.

TL;DR: 13 GoodNotes notes templates for class: digital notebooks with a Cornell notes template, subject notebooks with 5 to 20 hyperlinked tabs, two big paper packs to mix your own, and a semester planner with lecture-note trackers. Each card lists the paper styles and sections.

• Digital Notebook 500 Pages Bundle – Best overall for lecture notes
• Digital Notebook 5 Hyperlinked Tabs – Best simple Cornell notebook
• Horizontal Digital Notebook – Best landscape notebook
• Digital Notebook 5 Hyperlinked Tab – Best 5-subject notebook
• Paradise Digital Note Templates – Most paper styles
• Digital Notebook Purple Sky – Best aesthetic notebook
• Digital Student Notebook – Best minimalist student notebook
• Cute Hyperlinked Notebook – 5 Tab – Best cute notebook
• Digital Notebook Papers – GoodNotes – Best decorative paper pack
• Digital Notebook Hyperlinked Goodnotes – Most pages for every subject
• 10 Tab Digital PDF Notebook for Studying – Best calm 10-subject notebook
• Digital Notebooks – Most tabs (20 subjects)
• Digital Semester Planner for Goodnotes – Best for lecture notes plus planning

Quick Comparison

What Is a Cornell Notes Template?

A Cornell notes template splits the page into three parts, a layout developed at Cornell University for studying from lecture notes:

• Notes column (right, the widest): what you write during class, in short phrases rather than full sentences.
• Cue column (left, narrow): filled in after class with keywords and questions that point to the notes, such as “What causes inflation?”
• Summary (bottom): two or three sentences in your own words about the whole page.

The trick is the cue column. Cover the notes with your hand (or a sticky note in GoodNotes), read the questions on the left and answer them out loud. That’s active recall, and it’s built into every page. A Cornell note taking template simply saves you from drawing the lines each time, and in a digital notebook you can duplicate the page as often as you like.

How to Take Cornell Notes in GoodNotes

1. Before class: add a fresh Cornell page to the subject’s tab and write the date and topic at the top.
2. During class: write only in the notes column. Use abbreviations, arrows and bullet points, and leave space between ideas.
3. Same evening: read the notes once and write one question or keyword per idea in the cue column. Highlight anything you didn’t understand.
4. Write the summary at the bottom in two or three sentences. If you can’t, that topic needs a second look.
5. Each week: hide the notes column, answer the cue questions, and mark the ones you missed for the next review.

In GoodNotes you can paste slide screenshots straight into the notes column, use the lasso tool to move a paragraph next to the right cue, and search your handwriting later. That’s where a Cornell notebook on the iPad beats paper.

At a conference, slide notes also need a way back to the right speaker and session. These conference note layouts extend the notes-and-questions split with session codes, a handout register and an event index, so several talks do not merge into one account.

Which Paper for Which Class

• Cornell: lecture-heavy subjects with lots of theory, such as history, biology, psychology and economics.
• Graph: math notes, physics and chemistry, where equations and graphs need to line up. For GoodNotes math notes, graph paper also keeps fractions and columns of numbers tidy.
• Dot grid: diagrams, mind maps and science sketches. The dots guide you without boxing you in.
• Lined: essays, literature and language classes, where you write in full sentences.
• Two columns: comparing two things side by side, such as vocabulary and translation, or pros and cons.
• Guided notes: if a teacher shares a guided notes template (a page with blanks to fill in), import it into GoodNotes and write on it like any other page.

Most notebooks above let you mix these inside one subject, so a chemistry tab can hold graph pages for calculations and Cornell pages for theory.

A research session needs more context than a page of class theory. Pair your chosen paper with student research journal headings for session identifiers, observations and file references, following the recording method your instructor requires.

GoodNotes Paper Templates: Built-In Paper and Your Own

GoodNotes paper templates are the single pages behind your writing. The app has built-in paper (blank, ruled, dotted and squared), and the notebooks above add designed pages on top of that. The paper types worth having:

• Lined paper in narrow and wide ruling, for full sentences.
• Grid paper for math, tables and neat diagrams.
• Dot grid for sketches, mind maps and bullet journal pages.
• Cornell pages with a cue column and a summary box.
• Colored paper, such as pink grid or cream lined, if white pages feel too bright on the screen.

To use your own paper, save it as a PDF or image and import it in the Templates section of GoodNotes settings. After that it shows up in the template picker when you add a new page, next to the built-in paper.

Importing the paper is only one part of choosing where to keep it. The iPad note-taking app comparison looks at PDF navigation, handwriting and reusable stickers, which matter if you want your class notebook and planner to share an app.

What I Look For in a Notes Template

• Several paper styles in one file: at least lined, grid and dot grid, ideally with Cornell.
• Hyperlinked subject tabs: one tap from math to history instead of scrolling through 200 pages.
• An index or contents page you can name yourself.
• Quiet design: soft colors and thin lines, so your handwriting is what you see.
• Made for the iPad: a PDF that opens in GoodNotes or Notability, not a printable or a Canva file.

Digital Notebook or Loose Paper Templates?

A digital notebook is one hyperlinked file with covers, tabs and an index: you open it and start writing. It suits anyone who wants every class in one place, and a Cornell notebook like the 500-page bundle is ready on day one.

Loose paper templates, like the Paradise pack or the decorative papers, are single pages. You add them to notebooks you already have, or save them as custom paper in GoodNotes. They suit people who already have a system and just want better pages, or who color-code by subject.

One Notebook for Every Class (and Everything Else)

If you take five or more classes, a multi-subject GoodNotes notebook with 10 to 20 tabs saves a lot of switching between files. Give each class its own tab in timetable order, then keep two or three spare tabs for things that aren’t lectures: club meetings, a side project, reading notes, life admin. The 10-tab notebook covers a full course load, while the 15-section and 20-tab notebooks leave room for the rest of your week. When a semester ends, duplicate the file, rename the tabs and start clean without losing last term’s notes.

Two-column paper can also help when you start applying for work: place a role requirement beside an honest example from your experience. The job search notebook layouts develop that comparison alongside resume version records and interview pages, with an application ID connecting the notes for each opening.

A spare reading-notes section can also hold ideas you want to revisit beyond the next exam. These commonplace book page ideas keep the source beside your response, with entry labels that let you connect related thoughts later.

One spare tab can hold thoughts that have not yet found a subject or project. These digital brain dump templates compare open writing space with priority fields and broader journal formats, offering a separate place to sort loose ideas before adding them to organized class notes.

How to Set Up Your Notes Notebook in GoodNotes

1. Save the file on your iPad and unzip it in the Files app if it comes as a ZIP.
2. Open GoodNotes, tap New → Import and choose the PDF. It opens as a new notebook with working tabs.
3. Rename the tabs or the index page with your subjects for this semester.
4. Duplicate the paper you need behind each tab: Cornell for lectures, graph for math, and so on.
5. Use read-only mode when you want to jump between tabs, and pen mode when you write.
6. For loose paper packs, import the page you like and save it as a custom template, so every new page in any notebook can use it.

Turn Class Notes Into Exam Prep

Notes only pay off if you go back to them. A simple routine that fits around classes:

• Same day, 10 minutes: fill in the cue column and the summary while the lecture is fresh.
• Weekly, 30 minutes per subject: cover the notes and answer the cues. Star the questions you missed.
• Before exams: go through only the starred cues and the summaries. That’s your revision list, already written.

To plan those review sessions, pair your notebook with a study planner. My digital study planners roundup has a revision plan for exam season.

A Free Notes Template for GoodNotes

If you’d rather test digital notes before paying for a notebook, one simple option on Creative Fabrica is listed as a freebie, so there’s no price and no All Access trial attached. It has no Cornell layout, but lined pages and tabs are enough for a first notes template on the iPad.

FAQ

What is the best notes template for GoodNotes?

For lectures, I’d choose a notebook with several paper styles and a Cornell page, like the Digital Notebook 500 Pages Bundle. For a light start, the 5-tab notebook with Cornell, graph and dot grid pages. If you already have a notebook and just want more paper, a pack like Paradise Digital Note Templates.

Is there a Cornell notes template for GoodNotes?

Yes. Three notebooks in this list include Cornell notes templates: the 500 Pages Bundle, the 5 Hyperlinked Tabs notebook and the horizontal 12-section notebook. Import the PDF into GoodNotes and duplicate the Cornell page whenever you need a new one.

Are there free GoodNotes templates for note taking?

GoodNotes comes with basic built-in paper such as lined, grid and dotted. Two of the 5-tab notebooks above are labeled free on their covers. The bigger notebooks and paper packs are paid, and many are included in Creative Fabrica’s All Access subscription.

What are the 5 R’s of Cornell notes?

Record (write the notes in class), Reduce (turn them into cues and keywords), Recite (answer the cues with the notes covered), Reflect (think about how the ideas connect) and Review (go back to the page regularly). The template’s columns map to the first three.

Do Cornell notes work for math?

They can: write worked examples in the notes column and the formula or the type of problem as the cue. But many students prefer graph paper for math notes, because equations and columns of numbers stay aligned. A notebook with both lets you choose per class.

Can I use a Cornell notes template for work meetings?

Yes, and it works well: discussion in the notes column, decisions and action items as cues, and a one-line summary at the bottom to share. For a planner built around meetings and projects, see my digital work planners.

What are Cornell notes?

A note-taking method from Cornell University: the page is split into a narrow cue column on the left, a wide notes area on the right and a summary box at the bottom. You take notes during class, add questions and keywords to the cue column afterwards, and sum up the page in a few lines, which makes review much faster.

How do I take better notes?

Write in your own words instead of copying everything, use headings and short bullet points, and leave space to add things later. Review your notes within a day and turn the key points into questions. A structured template, like Cornell or a simple outline page, does half of this for you.

Final Thoughts

Good notes aren’t about pretty handwriting; they’re about pages you can study from. Pick a notebook with the paper your classes need, give the Cornell layout a try for your most lecture-heavy subject, and spend ten minutes the same evening on the cue column. For what to plan around your notes, see my study planner ideas and the digital academic planners for the whole semester. To color-code subjects, grab hex codes from my GoodNotes color palettes, and decorate your pages with GoodNotes stickers. Want the pages to look good too? See my aesthetic notes ideas that stay easy to read. For headers, sticky notes and to-do flags in your notes, see my study stickers.

Looking for planner pages rather than note paper? Start with my digital planner templates or the best digital planners for 2027. Taking notes at work? See these meeting notes templates.

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